Our Hungry Planet: Design Thinking
Challenge
Teacher’s Guide
Are your students ready to tackle a food system issue at home or in their
school? The following guide will help you facilitate a structured design
challenge in your classroom related to food at home, at school, or in the
community.
Grade levels: 6-8
Total activity time: Variable
Materials needed:
• Food Topic Design
Challenge Spectrum
• Student Guides
Introduction
This Food Solutions Design Challenge is the final activity in the Flipside Science: Our Hungry Planet:
Food For a Growing Population unit. Before implementing this design challenge in your classroom, it is
recommended you start with the preceding activities in the unit:
1. Food for Thought: Defining a Problem to Find a Solution
2. Exploring the Impacts of Feeding the World
3. Rapid Brainstorming: How Can We Improve Our Global Food System?
4. Sustainable Food Solutions: Weighing the Pros and Cons
If you are using this design challenge independently of the unit, your students can become more familiar with
issues surrounding our global food system and some proposed solutions by watching the videos in Flipside
Science: Our Hungry Planet: Food For a Growing Population:
1. The Environmental Impact of Feeding the World
2. Urban Farming: Can Our Cities Grow Local, Affordable Food?
3. Vertical Farming: Growing in New Directions
4. Reducing Food Waste: Save Food to Save the Planet
5. Think Before You Eat: How Your Food Choices Can Save the Environment
Using This Design Thinking Guide
‘Design thinking’ is a structured method that can be used to create a product, or to develop and implement
solutions to a problem. Through the design thinking process, students can “learn to sharpen the focus of
problems by precisely specifying criteria and constraints of successful solutions, taking into account not only what
needs the problem is intended to meet, but also the larger context within which the problem is defined, including
limits to possible solutions” (Engineering Design in the NGSS for Middle School).
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The goal of this design challenge is for students to practice design thinking and how to structure a design
process. Honing one’s skills in the design thinking process takes a lot of practice!
The Design Challenge Levels outlined in the Student Guide are adapted from Design for Change’s design
thinking toolkit. Each level can be printed off and given to students as a handout as they work through the
challenge. Encourage students to keep track of their ideas and progress in a design notebook or on a blog.
How to Choose a Food Topic for your Design Challenge
Encourage your students to brainstorm together food system issues that they would feel empowered to
tackle either at home, at school, or in their broader community. You can make this a whole class discussion,
small group brainstorm, or individual homework. Check out examples of design challenge food topics on the
Food Topic Design Challenge Spectrum below that vary from one day challenges to week-long challenges:
Food Topic Design Challenge Spectrum
Students should work through the challenge in groups. Choosing a challenge that incorporates the whole
class can not only help your students build teamwork skills, but can bring comradery to your classroom as
your students empower not only each other, but youth outside of their own communities through the sharing
of their designs.
Need some inspiration?
Watch stories of successful design thinking challenges in the classroom (from the Teaching Channel):
• STEM Design Challenge: Edible cars
• Roller Coaster Physics: STEM in Action
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• Scooter Design Challenge: Newton’s 3rd Law in Action
Or, read these stories:
• Creative Thinking in the Classroom: Learning through a design challenge
• Global Teacher Prize blog: Kiran Bir Sethi: Empowering Students with Design Thinking
• KQED News: How to Apply Design Thinking in Class, Step By Step
Additional resources
• Edutopia: SMART Goal Setting With Your Students by Maurice Elias
• Edutopia: Blogging in the 21st Century by Michelle Lampinen
• Education Week: How Blogging Can Improve Student Writing by Ben Curran
About Flipside Science
Flipside Science is a youth-powered series that tackles complex environmental topics and empowers viewers to make a
difference. This engaging and upbeat collection of videos, hosted by Academy youth, explores how local communities
are addressing environmental problems with solutions ranging from vertical farming to greywater recycling.
Head to Flipside Science to find the complete list of videos and activities in this series.
Our Hungry Planet: Food For a Growing Population
Food for Thought:
Defining a Problem to Find a Solution
Sustainable Food Solutions:
Weighing the Pros and Cons
Exploring the Impacts of Feeding the
World
Our Hungry Planet:
Design Thinking Challenge
Rapid Brainstorming:
How Can We Improve Our Global Food
System?
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